Prerequisites | NVIDIA NemoClaw

Before you start, verify that your machine has the software and hardware needed to run NemoClaw.

Hardware

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	4 vCPU	4+ vCPU
RAM	8 GB	16 GB
Disk	20 GB free	40 GB free

The sandbox image is approximately 2.4 GB compressed. During image push, the Docker daemon, k3s, and the OpenShell gateway run alongside the export pipeline. The pipeline buffers decompressed layers in memory. On machines with less than 8 GB of RAM, this combined usage can trigger the OOM killer. If you cannot add memory, configure at least 8 GB of swap to work around the issue at the cost of slower performance.

Software

Dependency	Version
Node.js	22.19 or later
npm	10 or later
Docker	Docker Engine, Docker Desktop, or Colima on a tested platform
Platform	Refer to Platforms below

On Linux, the installer can install Docker, start the Docker service, and add your user to the docker group. If the group change is not active in the current shell, the installer exits with newgrp docker guidance before it starts onboarding. If you choose the native Linux Ollama install path, the onboard wizard also requires zstd for Ollama archive extraction. The installer also requires strings from binutils to verify the OpenShell binary before it continues with OpenShell install work.

Docker Group Access

NemoClaw needs Docker access. On personal Linux development machines, adding your user to the docker group is the standard way to run Docker without sudo. Members of the docker group can control the daemon with root-level impact. Grant this access only to trusted local accounts. On shared or managed systems, use your organization’s approved Docker access path. For background, review Docker’s daemon attack surface guidance.

On Debian and Ubuntu, NemoClaw installs zstd with apt-get if it is missing; on other Linux distributions, install zstd before onboarding. If the installer reports that strings is missing, install binutils and rerun the installer:

$ sudo apt-get install -y binutils

On macOS, NemoClaw uses the Docker-driver OpenShell gateway path with Docker Desktop or Colima. You do not need to install or sign a separate OpenShell VM driver helper for standard macOS onboarding. If you use Homebrew Colima, install the Docker CLI package with Colima because brew install colima does not provide the docker command:

$ brew install colima docker
$ colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8
$ docker info

OpenShell Lifecycle

For NemoClaw-managed environments, use nemohermes onboard when you need to create or recreate the OpenShell gateway or sandbox. Avoid openshell self-update, npm update -g openshell, openshell gateway start --recreate, or openshell sandbox create directly unless you intend to manage OpenShell separately and then rerun nemohermes onboard.

Docker Storage Driver

On Linux hosts running Docker 26 or later with the containerd image store enabled, nemohermes onboard transparently builds a fuse-overlayfs-enabled cluster image. The containerd image store is the install-time default for fresh docker-ce installations on Ubuntu 24.04 and similar distros. The fuse-overlayfs-enabled image bypasses a kernel-level nested-overlay limitation in k3s. You do not need manual setup. Refer to the troubleshooting guide for the override knobs and a manual daemon.json alternative.

Platforms

The following table lists tested platforms and deferred platforms with a documented preparation path. A Deferred row is available for evaluation only and is not a support claim. The table comes from ci/platform-matrix.json, the single source of truth kept in sync by CI and QA.

OS	Container runtime	Status	Notes
DGX OS (Spark)	Docker	Tested	Use the standard installer and `nemohermes onboard`. For an end-to-end walkthrough with local inference, see the NVIDIA Spark playbook.
DGX OS (Station)	Docker	Deferred	Deferred. For evaluation on a qualifying DGX Station GB300, see Additional Setup for DGX Station before the Quickstart.
Linux	Docker	Tested	Primary tested path. Ubuntu 24.04 has host-level onboarding validation. A digest-pinned Ubuntu 26.04 userspace lane builds the CLI and runs preflight, installer, and platform contracts on eligible main pushes; Docker-host, AppArmor, Landlock, and live onboarding validation on 26.04 remain pending. Other distros (Ubuntu 22.04, Fedora, Rocky, Alma, NixOS, Arch) may work but are not validated.
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Colima, Docker Desktop	Tested with limitations	Start the container runtime (Colima or Docker Desktop) before running the installer. Homebrew Colima users must install both Colima and the Docker CLI (`brew install colima docker`) before `docker info` can work. Xcode Command Line Tools (`xcode-select --install`) are typically required for Node native modules during install. NemoClaw recommends them but does not enforce them during preflight.
Windows WSL2	Docker Desktop (WSL backend)	Tested with limitations	Requires WSL2 with Docker Desktop backend. See Additional Setup for Windows Machines before the Quickstart.

For the complete platform support matrix, including all deferred platforms and CI coverage, refer to Platform Support.

Additional Setup

Most supported platforms require no additional setup beyond the hardware and software requirements above. Use only the page that matches your host.

DGX Station Express Preparation

DGX Station remains Deferred. If you are evaluating a qualifying DGX Station GB300, follow Prepare DGX Station to Install NemoClaw before the Quickstart.

Windows Preparation

If you are using Windows, follow Prepare a Windows Machine to Install NemoClaw before the Quickstart.

Next Steps

Quickstart installs NemoClaw and launches your first sandboxed agent.
Use NemoClaw Docs with Your Coding Agents lets your AI coding assistant fetch NemoClaw Markdown docs before setup.